


life couldn't get much sweeter

by chinarai



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, I mean I tried to make this a lil bit funny, M/M, Post-Season/Series 07, Shiro Loves Men White Day Exchange, except s8 doesn't exist
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-15 02:12:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,564
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18489157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chinarai/pseuds/chinarai
Summary: Shiro learns how to make chocolates for Keith. Or tries to.A few days later, Shiro is done with this first step, and drags Hunk into the kitchen with him. The ingredients needed are scattered on the counter.Hunk, the man who's declined very few of Coran's odd Altean cuisine dishes, eyes said ingredients dubiously. “What… Are you planning?”“We’re making chocolate,” by using some Italian recipe Shiro tried to translate with his poor knowledge of Spanish, but he keeps that to himself. If Pidge or Matt had bothered to learn more than just curse words and insults, he could have asked fortheir help.To his credit, Shiro doesn’t defend himself when Hunk gives him a look as he rolls up his sleeves to get to work.





	life couldn't get much sweeter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Illiad_And_Oddity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Illiad_And_Oddity/gifts).



> Surprise, Sharky! I'm your pinch hitter for the White Day exchange, continuing with [misttiique's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misttiique/pseuds/Misttiique) prompt that Shiro learns how to make sweets for Keith. I hope you like it!

It wasn’t a bouquet of flowers. It definitely wasn’t a ring. It was a simple box of chocolates, and it was enough for all of Shiro’s Valentine’s Days.

The team wanted to get a taste of Valentine’s Day in space, so a tiny token exchange of gifts was in order. Everyone else had received a small box of candy from Keith, made from some new alien flavor they had just found. There were other gifts too, such as other confectionaries, or a rare new species of cultivated flower. 

However, none could match the one Shiro had gotten from Keith. 

The simple cardboard box decorated with pink and red hearts held authentic Earth chocolate of white, milk and dark flavors. Keith had gifted it to him in secret later that night, hours after the exchange they had done in the bridge, grinned wide when Shiro hummed in surprise as the piece of chocolate melted on his tongue. 

His other gift had been the same alien sweets, ones Keith thought resembled strawberry and cherry the most, and Shiro had in turn given him a practical gift. Keith is a man that often values experiences over material things, but still Shiro had wanted to give him something to keep. 

At the time, the knife seemed like a good idea. Made from a simpler metal than Luxite, it was sharp and beautiful enough that Keith would maybe want to display it in his room rather than use it. As Shiro licked his fingers clean of the residues of chocolate on his skin, and his insides twisted at the pure joy in Keith’s face, he thought that he should have tried to find something unique from Earth as well. 

Looking for a reason to give Keith some sweet treats in return, Shiro was reminded of the White Day holiday in Japan. Sure he had already given Keith a gift, but why not partake in this slightly modified holiday of his home country? 

And so Shiro began plotting. 

Keith, having spent a good chunk of his life in the system, has never been picky when it comes to food, hence why he didn’t complain much when they were introduced to the green food goo. He will eat anything one puts in front of him as long as it’s edible and not poisonous, but Shiro remembers how much he loves burgers. 

Keith would scarf down a burger and fries in record time whenever Shiro took him out to diners during their Garrison days, and had space left in his stomach to drink a tall glass of milkshake by himself. At first, Shiro thought it was because he was malnourished, as Keith had always been too small for his age. Then he chalked it up to the energy expended in hoverbike rides. Now he knows better: Galra genes, fast metabolism and all that. 

But burgers and fries are hardly romantic for a White Day celebration, so he settles for repaying with the same gift. When offered, Keith had declined to take one of the pieces for himself, even though chocolate is the only sweet treat he bothers to eat. Shiro would bet he had wanted to have a taste as well.

(Maybe that was why Keith had licked into Shiro’s mouth so insistently after he had eaten his share of chocolate for the day. )

Shiro looks through every swap moon they come across, but he never finds any chocolate. Not a bar, not a box, not even a tiny, lone bonbon. He considers asking one of the Paladins to ask Keith where had gotten that box from, but the Paladins aren’t supposed to know about it, and Keith is suspicious enough as it is. Shiro has been adamant that they stop by every trading post they find, which he never does. 

After leaving empty handed the first few visits, Shiro tries something else. If he can’t find it in a box, he might as well make some chocolate himself. Books from Earth are easy to find these days, and among them he finds some culinary ones that might come in handy. 

Ingredients, though, are another issue. 

Of all the things Earth has been trading with other planets since the end of war, the products with highest demand are desserts. No other planet can quite replicate cane sugar and other sweet treats. Pastries and bonbons run out in seconds whenever the Galactic Coalition meets up on Earth, and stocks last only for a short period of time in shops scattered around space.

And Earthlings aren't all that stupid. They don’t want any aliens to compete with them. Base ingredients for chocolate are forbidden from making it out of the planet, as most of this new income originates from exportation, so not even Shiro can take said ingredients with him to space. He’ll have to improvise. 

The books come in several languages, but Shiro can understand some basic words from some of them. He takes a bunch of the books back to the Atlas, and spends his free time trying to decode the recipes, or trying to put together ingredients and instructions that will result in tasty, melty chocolate. A few days later, Shiro is done with this first step, and drags Hunk into the kitchen with him. The ingredients needed are scattered on the counter. 

Hunk, the man who's declined very few of Coran's odd Altean cuisine dishes, eyes said ingredients dubiously. “What… Are you planning?”

“We’re making chocolate,” by using some Italian recipe Shiro tried to translate with his poor knowledge of Spanish, but he keeps that to himself. If Pidge or Matt had bothered to learn more than just curse words and insults, he could have asked for their help.

To his credit, Shiro doesn’t defend himself when Hunk gives him a  _ look _ as he rolls up his sleeves to get to work. He mostly helps by giving tips, sometimes takes over when Shiro is doing something  _ very  _ wrong, but their little kitchen adventure goes well enough. The mix looks creamy and smooth, and Shiro feels proud of himself for adapting some Earth recipe to accommodate alien ingredients, happy that Keith will get to have a proper White Day gift. 

Until they add a powdery, colorless ingredient, and they have to stop because it stinks so much it leaves them gagging. Hunk throws the concoction in the trash, though Shiro can see in his face he’d rather throw it out the airlock. 

Once they’ve stopped holding their breaths and the air is clean again, Hunk croaks, “We’ll need to tweak it a bit.” 

They spend a lot of time in the kitchen for days to follow, always when Keith makes a visit to the training deck. Shiro doesn’t want to ruin the surprise, which is taking much longer than he would like to get right. When the consistency is right, the color is wrong, and when they finally get the color right, the mixture doesn’t taste like chocolate at all. At least, the stinky accident doesn’t happen again. 

Hunk changes the recipe a lot, but it never gets close to the real thing. Earth chocolate is impossible to recreate, but Shiro is not about to quit. He didn’t give up when he wanted to get in the Garrison, or go to Kerberos, or when he could die in the Arena or in a barren planet surrounded by monsters and a deep gash on his side. He’s not about to give up now.

Shiro keeps trying, late in the Atlas’s night cycle when everyone else is asleep but his insomnia is kicking, wiping away every trace of his experiments from the counter long before they’re set to wake up.

It’s in one of those nights when Shiro is stirring the concoction in the most forlorn way possible that Keith walks into the kitchen and Shiro is too slow to react. Not that he could hide the mess of bowls, spatulas and measuring cups with a single sweep of his hand, unless he threw it all to the ground with a loud clatter and made a fool of himself. So he resigns to his fate, placing his head in his hands and sighing heavily.

“This explains a lot.” Keith comments, footsteps leading him to the counter. Shiro hears as he tugs the largest bowl closer. “I was wondering where you were going during the night.” 

“Why do you say that?”

“When you go to the training deck to wind down, you come back smelling fresh out of shower. You’ve been smelling sweet lately.” Of course Keith would notice something was wrong. Shiro was a fool to believe he could ever hide it from Keith and his Galra nose. “What have you been trying to do?” 

Shiro lifts his head and looks through the nearest drawer for a spoon. He passes it to Keith, who takes it with a raised brow and dips it into the fluorescent green mix. It looks much like the food goo from the Castle of Lions, though the taste is an improvement even if it’s not what Shiro is aiming for. 

“What is this?” Keith doesn’t wait for an answer and puts the spoon in his mouth. Shiro watches his face closely for a reaction. 

“What does it taste like?”

Keith takes his time to answer, rolling his tongue around his mouth and gauging the food. “Sweet. Melts on my tongue almost like-”

“Chocolate,” Shiro says.

“- But tastes nothing like it,” Keith finishes with a frown. Shiro wants to hang his head in defeat. “Were you trying to make chocolate out of alien ingredients?” 

Shiro beckons Keith over, wraps his arms around him in a tight hug. Keith nuzzles into his hairline, pressing a kiss to Shiro’s temple. His breath smells sweet when they face one another, but there is not a hint of cacao to it. 

“I wanted to give you real chocolate for White Day since you got me some for Valentine's.” Shiro explains, ducking to hide his face in the crook of Keith’s neck. “But I couldn’t find any in all the swap moons we visited.” 

Keith keeps quiet, fingers treading through silver hair. He always knows when Shiro needs some reassurance, how the need to prove himself in the Garrison has made Shiro aim to excel in every little thing he does, how it can hit him hard when he doesn’t get things right. Keith reads him well like no other, and Shiro is so lucky to say Keith is his.

“You know chocolate has become extremely popular with aliens, right?” He says it quietly. The vibrations of Keith's chest against his own are soothing. It may be a weird thing for some people, but it’s something Shiro loves and doesn’t know how to explain why.  Maybe because it reminds him of the purr of a cat, or because Keith just has some kind of effect on him. “It's impossible to find some in swap moons. They sell out very fast.” 

Shiro knows that, knows it well. Still he had a firm belief that he could make it work, somehow, because Keith deserves it and Shiro would do anything for him. He could have made good chocolate with Hunk's help had Shiro gotten his hands on the right ingredients, but alas... 

“And,” Keith continues after a beat of silence, “I got my mom to bring me some the last time she visited. Straight from Earth.”

Shiro pulls back to look Keith in the eyes. “Last time she came around was weeks ago.”

“I've been planning ahead.” Keith grins wide, dimples showing. “I wanted to give you something you'd really like.”

“Chocolate is my weakness.” Shiro has been stealing bits of Keith’s desserts and chocolate milkshakes since they were close enough friends for him to do it. “Should've thought of asking someone to bring you some. The Holts were around just last week. Sorry.” 

Keith shakes his head, warm fingers cupping the back of Shiro's neck to pull him down for a kiss. “You could've just given me a good morning kiss and I'd have loved it.”

“White Day doesn't work like that.”

“I don't know much about that holiday. Or any other for that matter, including Valentine's day, aside from the gift giving dynamic.” Shiro lets Keith peck his lips when he pauses, can't quite keep the smile off his face when Keith is still warm from bed, face soft with sleep and lips so sweet tasting from that thing Shiro created. “I just want to spend it with you in any way that I can.”

Shiro hums, eyelids low and gaze set on Keith’s lips. “I’m overreacting, aren’t I?”

“I wouldn’t say that,” he counters with a breathy chuckle. “But it’s cute. It means a lot to me that you’d do this for me.” Keith gestures at the dishes on the counter. “I know how much you’d rather not try to cook anything.” 

Shiro laughs deep from his belly, arms tightening around Keith to squish him as close as he can get. “I’d learn how to cook for you.”

“You don’t need to.” Shiro snorts at Keith’s immediate reply, but leans into the press of Keith’s mouth on his. “Thank you, though. I mean it.” 

“Anything for you.” He likes the look Keith gets on his face when Shiro reminds him how unconditional his love for him is. Stunned, yet familiar and warm, like he can’t quite believe Shiro still means it. Knowing Keith, it’s probably true. “I’d cross the universe for you.”

“So would I.” Squirming, Keith puts some distance between them and gathers the dirty dishes in his hands. “Come on. Cover that bowl up and put it in the fridge while I load these in the dishwasher.” 

“What are you going to do with this?”

“Eat it, of course. I think it’ll go along with fresh fruits nicely.” Keith walks up to him once they’re done, laces their fingers together and places a kiss on the back of Shiro’s hand. “But first, I want you in bed. You haven’t had a full night’s sleep in a while.” 

Usually, Keith falls asleep fast and could sleep through a hurricane had his Blade training not turn him into a light sleeper. Shiro wishes he could be like that, but his past has ruined a few things for him. It’s been easier these days, to fall asleep with Keith wrapped up around him, breath fanning the shell of Shiro’s ear and slowing down with each passing second. It’s grounding, like every touch of Keith’s. 

“I’ve been too stressed out to sleep.” With Keith pressed up to his back, warm and solid, Shiro feels like the missed hours of sleep will catch up to him fast tonight. He hadn’t noticed until now, but he misses sleeping tangled with Keith, strong arms and long legs wrapped around Shiro’s torso securely. 

“We’ll fix that.” Keith smiles, laces their fingers together and pecks the back of Shiro’s hand. “You did well. I like it.” 

“I know you do.” He would never lie to Shiro, even when it comes to his disastrous cooking. 

Keith tugs on his hand to guide them back to their shared bedroom. Next year, Shiro will be ready. He’ll arrange a trip to Earth and make some homemade chocolate for Keith, and will finally ace a recipe.

He might even add a ring to it.

**Author's Note:**

> | [tumblr](https://chinarai.tumblr.com/) | [twitter](https://twitter.com/chinaraii) | [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/chinarai) |


End file.
